Entries in marathon
(2)

SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages(WASHINGTON) -- Is your marathon time just average? Try converting it into “Paul Ryan Time” and you may be pleasantly surprised.

An average 4 hour and 26 minute marathon time can look more like a 3 hour, 12 minute and 51 second race using a new website parodying vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s recent marathon claims. The site, paulryantimecalculator.com, cropped up after Ryan – a noted fitness buff – said last month that in his younger days, he finished with a pretty impressive personal best marathon time.

“Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something,” Ryan said in an interview.

That’s a time that would blow most male runners (who average times of around 4 hours and 30 minutes) out of the water.

It turns out that Ryan has only run one marathon in 1990 when he was 20 years old, his spokesperson confirmed to Runners World. He finished with a time of 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds.

“The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin–who ran Boston last year–reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three,” Ryan told Runners World in a statement. “If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight.”

Looking to break the marathon world record? Just clock a 2 hour and 49 minute time, convert it, and you can beat out Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai’s 2 hour, 3 minute and two second marathon record. You may not land a Guinness World Record, but you’ll get this accolade courtesy of paulryantimecalculator.com: “Congratulations, you have set a new Paul Ryan-certified World Record!”

Ryan answered that he “hurt a disc” in his back,” so he doesn’t “run marathons anymore.” Instead, he said, he just runs 10 miles or less.

The conservative radio host then asked him what his personal best time is. For a marathoner this is a badge of honor, but Ryan couldn’t recall exactly.

“Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something,” Ryan said.

Hewitt was surprised, saying, “Holy smokes.”

Ryan replied: “I was fast when I was younger, yeah.”

But it turns out, he’s only run one and it wasn’t under three hours or even under four hours.

The Ryan campaign told Runner’s World magazine that the House Budget Chairman ran one marathon in 1990 when he was 20 years old. That was the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. The running magazine reports he finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds.

“The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin — who ran Boston last year — reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three. If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight.”

ABC News asked Buck why the Wisconsin congressman made it sound as if he had run more than one marathon, but Buck only responded to confirm it was just a single race.

Runner’s World has some great statistics on other national candidates that have faster times than Ryan, including the last GOP vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, who has a best time of 3:59

John Edwards has run 3:30 and George W. Bush has run 3:44, while Al Gore is slower than Ryan with a 4:58.